The trip to Vegas was fast and furious but lots of fun.  We got into town on Thursday night right in the middle of a nasty dirt storm!  It blew off a sliding door at Excalibur, destroyed a hot air balloon and knocked out the power to one of the monorail tracks.  I don't know what otherI damage was done. 
I wasn't feeling very good (sinus headache) the next morning at the quilt show but I enjoyed looking at everything.  I ordered the CD with pictures of all the quilts but it hasn't come yet.  If I lived in Vegas, I could join the doll club!  I haven't made a doll in a long, long time!
We rode the new monorail from Monte Carlo to Bellagio.

We got some yummy cupcakes at the Cupcakery at Monte Carlo.  I got chocolate, of course, and my husband got a strawberry shortcake one.  I wish I had gotten the one that was Bubbly Champagne buttercreme frosting on raspberry cake.  Next trip for sure!

We saw the largest chocolate fountain in the world at Bellagio and their cakes were awesome!

 

The cakes at Aria were amazing too!

The Bellagio Conservatory was awesome!!!  We're used to seeing it in the fall with the big water wheel and all the chrysanthemums so it was nice to see it during a different season.

Can't wait till we go back in September!!!

Time to get caught up on my posting.  A lot has been happening since my last post.  I've been reading a lot!  I just finished Thereby Hangs A Tail by Spencer Quinn.  I had read his book Dog On It and really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed this one just as much!  Another book that I read and really liked is Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian.  I've been to Julian so it really made it more interesting plus, I like ghost stories!  Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun by Victoria Laurie was good too!  Now I'm reading a J.D. Robb book.
I finally finished my grandson's I Spy quilt .

He likes Transformers (an understatement!) so I appliqued some on the back of the quilt.

Then I got my granddaughter's I Spy quilt top pieced, I just need to get some more of the darker green for the border so I can get it finished.  Her quilt is the same and my grandson's except it's green instead of blue and she has girly blocks and she'll have Tinkerbell on the back.

Needless to say, the work on my Christmas quilt has slowed down for a while. 

On top of all that, I was given a treasure trunk last month.  I was given a yellow trunk full of fabric (most of it is a cotton/polyester blend), quilt blocks, quilt block pieces that are cut and ready to sew, and a few sample blocks that were sewn together.  Here's a picture of the trunk and some of the blocks and pieces that were sewn together.    I'll have to tell you that there is a lot of cat hair on everything (I'm allergic to cats) and there was a lot of cockroach poo too!  Gross!  Here's some pictures of the trunk and some of the blocks.  Cool, huh?!?

There are 32 star blocks that are sewn (by hand) in a hexagon shape.  I went through the fabric and matched it to the star blocks and cut borders so I could finish the quilt.  I washed the fabric before I used it but, unfortunately, I can't wash the blocks until the quilt is finished.  Here's a picture of the blocks I've gotten finished so far.  I'm really enjoying the hand piecing.  It makes me want to get started on the Jane Austen Quilted Diamonds quilt I want to hand piece.  Too many quilts, not enough time!

This weekend we're going to a quilt show in Vegas. Well actually, the quilt show is in Henderson but we're staying in Vegas at the Excalibur.  Hopefully I can find the fabric to finish my granddaughter's quilt.  I'm excited and can't wait!  I want to see the new CityCenter. 

Wow!  What happened to this year?  It's almost Christmas already.  We had a great Thanksgiving.  My quilting has had to come to a stop for a while.  I've been busy cleaning and decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas and shopping for presents. 
I love trees and especially Christmas trees.  I have a lot!  I'll have to get some pictures taken so you can see some of them.  I don't have all of them out yet and I still need to get the decorations up outside.  It's raining today which is great!  We need it! 
I need to get my tree skirt finished.  I started it last year but ran out of time and didn't finish it so I need to get it done before I start back on my big Christmas quilt.  I haven't been able to work on my grandson's quilt.  My hands have gotten so dry with all the cleaning and dry air and one of my fingers cracked open (it sounds gross but it just looks like a deep paper cut) so I need to get it healed before I can hand quilt again. 
I just finished reading The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate.  It was a good read.  I'm reading Foul Play by Tori Carrington now and listening to The Loop.  I forgot the author's name but it's good so far.  I'm not reading as much now and I'm listening to Christmas music instead of books. 
I also got myself a Nintendo DS and I've been playing that a little too.  I like Mario Party, the Princess and the Frog and Band Hero.  I'm disappointed that Taylor Swift isn't on the DS version but it's still got some good songs.
Time to get to bed.  Tomorrow's going to be another busy day!

Hi!
I sure have been busy but that's nothing new!  I just finished reading The Quilter's Homecoming and really enjoyed the history!  I'm reading a funny ghost story now, Merry, Merry Ghost, by Carolyn Hart.  I really enjoyed her book Ghost at Work so I had to get this one too.  I'm listening to Plum Pudding Murder by Joanna Fluke.  A great story and I'm anxious to try some of her recipes especially the truffles!  I'm also listening to Pirate's Daughter on my MP3 player.  It's interesting and a different kind of story than I usually read but I'm enjoying it too.

I have one block made for my Christmas quilt, 13 more to go!  I've got my pieces all cut out and marked.  I just need to get it pieced!  I need (512)  2" half square triangles and (256) 4" half square triangles.  Here's a picture of the first block.  The color isn't very good in this picture.  Now I'm off to work on my grandson's quilt!

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!!!