Lancaster here I come!

A month from today I will be meeting 6 new friends from the Netherlands. Last summer when Yvonne was here she mentioned to me about the trip her friends were going to make in March of 2011 to the American Quilters Society Quilt Show in Lancaster, PA. She invited me to join along but I thought there would be no way I could join them. The trip was not mentioned for a couple of months. For a birthday present, Stuart surprised me with a flight and my lodging to join all these ladies. Pretty exciting, don't you agree? Not only am I going to somewhere I've never been but I will be doing it with some amazing women I have never met. I'm feeling pretty excited and nervous at the same time. This is a picture of the ladies that belong to the "BEE". They tell me I'm a member but I'm just not able to join them every Thursday evening for the fun night of sewing and laughing that goes on. There's just a tad of a distance problem there. Yvonne keeps me posted of the nights events though. Not all of these ladies will be making the trip. In the back, Hilde(PA), Francella, Martine(PA), Patricia, Yvonne D.(PA).

Front row is Sipkje, Sienke(PA), Yvonne(PA), and Rennie(PA). Not pictured is Cisca who will also be on board that flight headed for the states. Thanks to Yvonne, she sent me this picture so I could start learning names and faces. I can't wait to actually meet all of them. Just hope I remember everyone.

We will be staying in the Old Stasburg Inn right there in Stasburg. From the picture it looks like a really nice place. So quaint and inviting, just like they say the people of Lancaster are. We will be attending the quilt show and of course visiting all the vendor booths there. We will be taking a tour of the Amish country. And I bet there will be lots of shopping there also. I've been saving, saving, saving!

So watch out Lancaster, some pretty wild and crazy ladies are coming your way.

P.S. My name badge just got here in the mail. This trip is coming faster and faster each day.

Sharing a little of my love!

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's more proof of my "LOVE" for decorating!

Hearts, dolls, runners & quilts, oh my!
And of course there's candy too!

From Christmas to love! Recognize the jars?

Pick me, pick me!

XOXO, have a "LOVE-ly" day!

Oh my it's day 5!

Another lazy morning. After laying around for a bit we finally got cleaned up and went for a drive to check out the new airport in St. George. You didn't know St. George was getting so big did you? They have had a smaller airport for years but as the area grows so does the need to improve. They have built a beautiful airport, that someday will be busy, busy, busy. You just wait. It was a very quiet afternoon, not many flights coming and going. We helped ourselves to a tour of this nice new facility.Where are all the passengers! No waiting here for 2 or more hours.

Our home is approximately here from the airport.

They have a big enough airport to grow into. In years to come it will be hustling and bustling with all sorts of people. You never know, maybe someday we will be flying down. lol

While we were out on our joy ride Stuart received a phone call from his brother Steven saying he was coming through on his way to Vegas, and he would be there about dinner time. Steve is a truck driving man. Stuart picked him up at the truck stop while I waited in line at Texas Roadhouse.

As always we had a yummy supper. We did lot's of visiting and laughing that night. We don't have the chance to do this very often so it was great getting together with him. Thanks for the invite Steve. We took him back to his truck so he could be on his way. Stuart and Steve with the semi.

Another great day in the neighborhood. Happy Trails Steve, be safe.

This ends our Vegas trip, sorry it has taken me so long to get it all done. Now onto some fun sewing stuff, like bags, winterfest, etc. And oh, my up coming trip. ("I'm so excited")

Day 4, kind of lazy for sure!

Thursday afternoon after getting back in to St. George we kind of had a relaxing, lazy day. While Stuart was napping I drove to town to check out what was new in a couple of my favorite stores I like to visit while I'm in town. TJ Maxx's was the first stop, not a very successful trip this time. I couldn't find anything that really jumped out at me. Now that's a switich, I can usually find bargain after bargain there. Maybe next time. Then it was off to Lazy Daisy Cottage to visit with Dana and the girls. This shop has fabric, but it also has a good assortment of candies, jewelry and gifts. Stop in the next time your in town. Sorry I missed Dana though. My last stop of the afternoon was Quilted Works. After wondering and looking at all the fabric I didn't need, I ended up buying what else, but some bag patterns. I missed seeing Nedra there. I was surprised to learn she had moved just a week or so earlier. These bag patterns are quite simple. I have already made the MiPad case for my trip, only mine's not for an IPad. Oh yah, don't let me forget to show and tell you all about my adventure coming up a month from today. It's been a surprise since last September. I'll keep you "posted"! And this was my purchase at Lazy Daisy. Look how adorable this sewing fabric is. I love the little scissors and spools of thread on the flowered piece. I don't really have anything in mind for it, it will just have to sit on the shelf for a little while til I think of something. Oops I mean floor! I also bought one of their cute apron kits, which includes the flower pin by the way.
Now for my souviners I picked up at the Christmas Goose the day before. Have you seen these scissors from Fiskers? I don't know if they have been out for awhile but they were sure are something new to me, where have I been? They are spring loaded, soft and squishy. Just the right thing for clipping raw edge quilts. These would work great on denim to. I had to try them out on my blocks for my Blissfull Day quilt.

I also found the book the star quilt was in that I blogged about in my earlier post. And a new Snap Happy bag pattern. This one is a double layered one, great for sewing supplies, make up or just trinkets in your purse. Can't wait to make this one. A thought just appreared to me, this is what I might use that cute fabric on! Sounds like a good idea to me. I should get started! The weather was wonderful, so why not barbeque.

It was a great day in the neighborhood, well kind of. When we went for our annual ride to the candy store at Zion's to get peanut brittle they weren't opened for the season yet. Darn it, for sure next time though!

Great Story!

If you visit Claudia you can read the most interesting story how the Quilt Walk Festival got started. Her quilt shown above won the People's Choice award last year. Isn't it amazing? And then after you have been to her blog, check out Jan Marie's. I met Jan last year at the festival. What a fun gal she is. Anyway she has spotlighted me (yup, ME!) on her blog. You can read all about my classes here.
Yeah! It's the weekend again. Hope everyone has a "SEW" happy one!

Some more of Vegas

It's Wednesday and day 3 of our Vegas/St. George trip. Stuart located the Christmas Goose Quilt Shop for me. The fun ladies at this shop had ordered my Spooky Treats quilt pattern from last summer. So while I was in the neighborhood (sort of) we took a trip to put faces with names.I get excited going into new shops, don't some of you? It's hard to take it all in at once. This shop is decorated with lots of old antiques.I found a few things I couldn't leave without getting. That's a later post though.

Look at this snazzy wall system they use for all their patterns. The doors glide along rollers so it makes looking at the the patterns "sew" simple. This would be a great system to have in a sewing room. If only I had the room for something like this, I know I can feel it with patterns. No problem on that end!

Look what just happened to be hanging on one of the pegs. My oh my, how do you like this? It's Spooky Treats. You remember it don't you?

This little beauty was a big hit last October.

They had some amazing quilts hanging for display. I really liked the look of this star quilt. It's made up with fat quarters. Definately on the list to do.

Look how cute this one is. I just thought all the women on this quilt were cute. So many different fabrics used on it. A great way to use scraps.

After we left the quilt shop we went for ride to see the Big Dam Bridge. Which would be the Hoover Dam. We have been there a couple of times while they have been working on it. They finished up last fall. Wow, what a sight. Well kind of. When you drive over it you can't even see down to the dam. They have built the side walls so high that its impossible to see down, so of course we parked and walked up and walked across the bridge.This is really an amazing sight from here.

Look! I'm just about as tall as the retaining wall. And I thought they were alot taller than that.

From this spot you can see the bridge in the background. Yup, I was up that high walking across the "Big Dam Bridge"!

We spent the afternoon doing a little shopping and had a great lunch at Outback Steakhouse and then that evening it was time to get all fancied up for a concert at the Flamingo.

We went to see these two very talented people. Yes, Donny and Marie. These two are super energetic and full of personality. I wasn't disappointed at all. I'm glad I got the chance to see their show. It was awesome. And then it was off to lullaby land. See you back in St. George.

Vegas, Day 1 & 2

Two weeks ago Stuart and I took a little trip to Vegas for the Shot Show(Gun show). For those of you that don't know, I am married to a gun enthusiast and dealer. He started his own business, V Bar Guns & Ammo almost 3 years ago. Guns are his second love, I being the first. I hope! We stopped at my sister and brother in laws, Collette and Randy. He's been wanting to see some of Stuart's guns. When we got everything unloaded from the truck, I felt like the Fullergun salesman going from door to door. It was a pretty funny sight heading for their door. Stuart and Randy doing a bit of gun business.
Show and tell time. Stuart is pretty knowledgeable in the world of guns. We stayed and had lunch with them and their two daughters, Lindsay and Alayna. Thanks for a great lunch at the Pizza Factory all of you. It was nice getting caught up on a few things. Then it was off to St. George for the night.
Lindsay, Collette & Alayna.
We met the newest member of the Cowan family. Meet Benson Marriott, he is the little one of Alayna. He was born 3 days after our Christmas baby, Teegan. What a sweet, sweet baby.
We got early Tuesday morning and headed for Vegas. We spent all morning and afternoon looking at things like this.

This is a replica of the guns and holster that Roy Rogers used in his t.v. show. They were going to be giving this away. Hum, I guess we didn't win!

We saw alot of this kind of stuff too.

This is a armored police truck on display at the show.

In the booth at Thompson Fire Arms they were displaying this gold plated machine gun. Wow, I wonder what the price on this gun is? No dear, you can't have it! It was just fun getting a picture in front of it.

Stuart is a big fan of Browning guns, maybe because they are made up north here in Utah.
Later that evening we went to the dinner show sponsored by the Outdoor Channel. It was held at the Venetian Hotel. What a beautiful place. The tables were beautifully set. We shared the table with 3 other couples. It was fun getting to know there where abouts. And we felt we knew their likes already!

We started off with a delicious green salad. Oh boy was it good. Our main dish was a chicken breast and red potatoes. I'm pretty sure it had a fancy name but I didn't catch it. Nor, did I get a picture.

But rest a sure I did get a picture of the dessert. It was a chocolate mousse cake. My, oh

my was it heavenly. I was so full I didn't eat mine until the show part of the evening. Let's get this show started!We were entertained by the funny man himself, Jeff Foxworthy. Oh, my gosh this guy is so funny. I was laughing so hard I was crying. It was a nice clean show, no fowl language just pure clean humor.

Our first day in Vegas was a fun one. Now what will we do the rest of the week. Stay tuned for the adventures of day three and four of our Vegas trip.