Well, I'm still working on the Christmas applique blocks.  Here's another stocking block.

I'm also working on a pieced Christmas quilt that needs 384 half square triangle pieces.  A friend gave me some gorgeous fabric and I just have to use it!  Here's a picture of the focus fabric and some of the half square triangles.  The colors are a lot prettier than they look here.  I'm off to piece some more triangles!

What a great weekend!  I just spent 2 1/2 days with some very fun, talented, creative women at a quilt retreat.  I wish I had taken some pictures.  I sooooo want to be retired so I can spend more time quilting!  So many projects and so little time.  I need to start looking for a project for next year's retreat!  Paper piecing!
I got another block finished and I'm almost finished with another one.  I'll put pictures up when I get another one done.

Here's my Christmas Tablerunner.  I'll get the binding on this weekend and then work on my wall hanging.

Jeanne - WillowTreeStitcher thanks for your comments.  I live about 2 hours northeast of Tucson.  Your samplers are awesome!!!

Wow! Our vacation in Vegas was awesome (as usual!).  We got a free room upgrade at Excalibur and their pool was really nice.

Cher's show was great!  The CSI Experience was fun. The T-Rex exhibit at the Venitian was amazing.

Still haven't hit it big but we had fun trying!  We went to some casinos we hadn't been to before - Encore, (love the butterflies)

Green Valley Ranch (ritzy), M (classy), South Point (fun and very nice), Silverton (a little darker than I like) and the new Hard Rock Cafe (fun, very cool and great food).

We ate some very good food.  My favorite is cheeseburgers and fries.  Hard Rock has great cheeseburgers and the service is fantastic!  Everyone is so friendly!  Kahunaville also has great burgers and fries.  Of course, there's always Johnny Rockets and In-and-Out Burgers.  La Salsa Cantina at Planet Hollywood has yummy quesadillas and great service.  We went to two buffets, both had good food and great service - Stratosphere and my favorite - the Garden Buffet at South Point.

We had a little scare as we were walking from Paris to PH.  Some guy in a red car almost ran over an old man on a bicycle.  The old man didn't get out of the way fast enough and the guy almost hit him again.  So rude and inconsiderate!  I don't know why anyone  would ride a bike on Las Vegas Blvd. but he didn't deserve to be run down.  Something happened at or by the Hard Rock Cafe on Friday night.  There were four ambulances but we didn't hear why.
I love the water show at Bellagio!

I love Vegas!!!

I also went to one of the quilt shops featured in the Quilt Sampler magazine.  Quiltique is a really nice quilt shop!  I love the way it's decorated and had a nice time shopping there.
Here are some more pictures of my Christmas quilt blocks.  Now I need to get back to quilting!

I've been away from my blog for a looong time! I need to get some of the cool pictures from my camera on here!
There's been so much going on! Last month a bunch of us went to a Diamondbacks game and saw Montgomery Gentry and got a Gonzo tshirt.
This weekend found us in the ER twice! My grandkids were horsing around and my grandson fell on the hardwood floor and hurt his thumb. They sent him home with a brace on his hand and two days later called and said it was broken and to bring him in for a splint. Crazy!!!
Some friends invited me to go to the Gem show in Tucson Thursday. I've never been to one so it will be another first.
We're gearing up for our vacation trip to Vegas. Can't wait! I am so ready for a vacation! We've got tickets to see Cher again. Hopefully she won't get sick and cancel this time. We also want to try the new CSI experience at MGM.
When we get back I'm having a Dove Chocolate tasting party. Have you ever had chocolate martinis? They're yummy!!!! I'm definitely a chocoholic!
As far as my quilting goes, Nate's quilt is on hold again. I've been working on a Christmas applique table runner that I'm using to teach at the quilt retreat next month. The little houses came out cute and so did Santa and the reindeer and tree. I'm working on a star block now. Uploading these pictures is a pain!  The little house picture keeps turning sideways and I can't get the others to move where I want them.  Is anyone else having this much trouble?  I don't have time to mess with them anymore!  It's time to get busy on my quilt!!!

It's time to get back to my blog. My Dad passed away and there's been so much to do and so many people to talk to that I have been totally drained.

I spent all day yesterday catching up on yard work--pruning trees and bushes and roses, mowing the lawn, planting seeds and plants (some cute little petunias) and watering. Enjoyable but tiring. I spent last Saturday working in my Dad's yard doing the same thing except for the planting. I have some honeysuckle that I need to plant but I haven't had the time to go out and get the horse manure to mix with the soil. Have you ever tried manure tea? It's great for the plants, especially in our hard, dry dirt.

I'm down to the last three rows on Nate's quilt. I am so anxious to work on some other quilts but I'm determined to get his done first! Debbie Mumm's new book looks good!

I read The 8th Confession by James Patterson. It was a very good, fast read. I also read Committed which was just the book I needed right now. Light, funny and very enjoyable. I'm also enjoying Tea at Glenbrooke and I can't wait to try out some of the recipes.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments about my Christmas quilt. I'm glad you are enjoying it. It was a challenge for a beginning appliquer but it was so much fun!

I discovered an online quilt festival! What fun! Click on this link to look at all the entries.
http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/2009/04/quilt-festival-spring-2009.html

This is my favorite quilt. I had so much fun hand appliqueing it. It's called "Welcome to the North Pole" by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins.

A good friend taught me to applique and we each made this wall hanging. We started in March 2003 by selecting the fabrics for each block and placing them in ziploc bags. Our first block was the "North Pole Carryout."

The window panes were a pain!

The "Sprinkles Ice Cream Shoppe" was next. I renamed it "Nessa's Ice Cream Shoppe" for my granddaughter. This one was so much fun! It looks like the ice cream is dripping onto the tree. The fabric for the cherry and the white scoop of ice cream came from scraps of Nessa's quilt.

"Nate's Cars and Trucks and Reesa's Doll Shoppe" block was next. It was renamed for my grandson and other granddaughter. The truck wheels are little snaps!

The "Slick Sleds" block was a challenge with the curly roof!

I decided to do the Santa and the reindeer block next. We used a loosely woven fabric for the beard, moustache, hat and sleeve. That took some work, especially the moustache. It's so tiny! Surprisingly, the reindeer antlers weren't as hard as I thought they would be! Can you see Rudolph's red nose?

I'm not happy with the fabric I used on the Reindeer Barn's roof but decideded to leave it. That N took forever!!!

I love the fabric in the Marble Shop! Circles are hard to make round!

We made the "Welcome to the North Pole" block with an elf in green instead of another Santa.

I like the door on the "Elve's Recreation Center". The window panes are getting easier!

I made the "Trees and Reindeer" block next. I love making all the different trees.

The "Stars at Night" block was fun too! They look like they're dancing!

The "Elve's Bunkhouse" was different because of it's shape. This wasn't my favorite block. We were going to use red for the candy canes but the green ones look better. The roof was supposed to be three pieces but we used a print fabric and made it one piece instead.

I love the fabric for the "Mr. and Mrs. Claus's House.' It's seersucker! The little dormer windows were a challenge on this block.

The "North Pole Bakery" is made out of fabric from New York City and the flowers are buttons.

The "Three Trees" block was the smallest, fastest, and easiest block of all.

The last block was the "Royal Toy Works/Candy Cane Factory/Hats and Mittens." I don't know how I kept the white stripes on the candy cane so clean! I think the roof of Hats and Mittens looks like a Hershey's Kiss and don't you just love the door!

The blocks went together a lot easier than I thought they would. I was afraid of puckering or that they wouldn't line up.

I finished the top in one year, then I had to add all the beads and embroidery and then, hmmm, should I tell you how long it took me to hand quilt it? Okay! I finished on May 22, 2005! Hand quilting is definitely not my favorite thing to do, especially since other quilts were waiting to be started!

My friend's husband even made us some trees to hang our quilts on.